9/10: The Pass
On World Suicide Prevention Day, please take care of yourselves and your loved ones.
It's not as if this barricade
Blocks the only road.
It's not as if you're all alone
In wanting to explode.
Today is World Suicide Prevention Day, established by the World Health Organization and International Association for Suicide Prevention in 2003 to help raise awareness about this health crisis that claims 700,000 lives every year.
In honor of this important initiative, today we’re looking at “The Pass,” a song about suicide and its troubling romanticization in our culture.
Musically, “The Pass” cleaves closely to that Power Windows and Hold Your Fire sound, so between that and the subject matter, it was never really going to be the kind of Rush song I idly jammed to.
So what strikes me on this re-listen is just how powerful the lyrics of this song are. There’s no flouncy poetry in “The Pass,” no overwrought metaphors that cast difficult concepts into abstracts. This is a song about a narrator begging—literally begging—someone not to take their life. As such, it’s probably the most haunting song Rush ever wrote.
If you or someone you know struggles with sucidal ideation, please know that you are not alone. You can learn more about suicide prevention at the World Health Organization, among many other organizations.
I actually jam to this (it's my fave Rush era) and I somehow missed the plea to not unalive oneself. It always played to me as talking about getting through when life it's throwing you a ton of curveballs. Walking the razor's edge has always resonated. Guess I need to listen more closely!